Wrexham County Borough 94 - Putting Wrexham on the Map/the first match of the season /Squeaky bum time / weighbridges and emptying Gabby

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The days are getting shorter as they do when we move through August . The weather though is still hot and muggy. Wildfires are breaking out here and there . Hosepipe bans are being introduced in some counties and the reservoirs are starting to look dry . It feels best to do things early in the morning . Walks feel better in the cooler morning air . Swimming is pleasant before the summer heat kicks in . The fridge is working overtime to keep cool . As we are struggling too . The fields are yellow or turning brown . The Rowan and Hawthorn berries are beginning to turn bright red . Autumn is only just around the corner . Before long we will moan about the rain , the lack of sunshine and the thought of Winter ahead .

Our trip to the weighbridge went reasonably well . We found one at the nearby Shropshire quarry . A phone call sorted out we could take Gabby along to get her weighed before our upcoming holidays . The cost would be £6.50 for weighing the overall weight of Gabby and both axles . We did not need to book an appointment which meant that we could turn up at any time. All well and good we thought . The trip went OK . The weighbridge at the quarry was open . Lorries were hanging round with their full loads waiting to be weighed. The road sweeper was dampening down the sand that was blowing everywhere . I strolled to the window . Brought our motorhome to be weighed, I said whilst smiling . . Told curtly that they were busy and this was not a good time . I explained continuing to smile that I had called up and been told to just rock up anytime . Reluctantly the guy in the office agreed to weigh Gabby . Put her in the middle he grunted . We did just that . Move her forward onto her front axle . We obeyed . He called through the window to us asking us to move to the back where the back axles would be weighed . The driver drove off and parked out of the way allowing the lorries who were queuing up to head for the weighbridge . I paid , picked up the paperwork and we drove off insisting we would not return for another weighing session but would find a new place next time we needed to weigh Gabby . Once home we added up the figures and made the decision we needed to move a few things out of Gabby . Out came the large and heavy box in the garage . That weighed a ton or at least it felt like a ton . We removed pumps we had never used . We took out hoses that were still in the bags we bought them in years ago . We had bought items in 2012 and had never used them so it was time for a cull . Everything needed was put back . Everything not required was relegated to our home garage . She was ready to go or was she ?

Today was the day that the new Vanarama football season would start . Our first match was at home and against Eastleigh . We were back into our normal Saturday routine and it felt good to be back . We left early and drove into town to park up at Glyndwr University . The car park was already getting full . The usual steward was back on duty and he smiled and said a cheery hello before taking our parking fee . There was going to be a full house . Nearly 10K supporters . We sat for a while and began to talk about holidays just to pass the time between stopping and the start of the match at 3pm. We need a vignette for Switzerland and a toll box for Italy . Oddly we had forgotten these . Normally we would have them already but since Covid we have found there are so many things we have forgotten to order or arrange . When we get home we must order the vignette and arrange postage so that we receive it before we leave the country . That should be easy . We will order the toll box from Toll Tickets and pick it up at Harbour Shipping on our way down to the tunnel . More changes too to our trip . Perhaps Arras will change as we are on a different earlier train . It looks like Les Islettes . But that could change . And it certainly looks as if Altdorf will not be an overnighter .

We set off putting holidays to bed . The Racecourse was rocking . The 1863 lounge looked as if it was going to busy with corporate events . The Turf next door was full and they had erected a fanzone in their car park . Music was coming from that and there were hundreds of people packed in . Town was quite quiet . No music on the street . We headed for our go to cafe Gerrards and ordered our coffees, bacon sandwich and sausage roll . We were welcomed in and offered a loyalty card . Buy six coffees and get the 7th free . After our coffee we still had time to waste and headed for the Museum which was housing an exhibition of maps . Called putting Wrexham on the Map it seemed quite fitting . After becoming a city and just failing to achieve the City of Culture we were on the map . Even the billboards in Los Angeles were advertising our town/city . Billboards were advertising Welcome to Wrexham which was being shown in the states and showcased the takeover of our football club a year ago . They were the first thing you see when you leave Los Angeles airport . WRob and Wryan were going to tell the USA how two actors took over a 5th tier football club when they did not even know what the game of football was about . The Billboards on the top of New York taxis were advertising our town too .

So what was in the museum? It is not very big nor very fancy. It does not have the splendour of the Grosvenor Museum nor the quality of the exhibits . It is dark and rather gloomy as befitting an old police station . The exhibition here for another three weeks was showcasing a number of books and maps from the British Library . The Treasures on tour programme had sent three important objects to the town which had a relevance . The earliest accurate map of the area of the counties of Denbighshire and Flintshire dating back to 1577. A survey by John Norden of the lands of the Princes of Wales written in 1620 and including illustrations of Holt Castle . Finally a tax collectors notebook once the property of one Sion Gruffydd of Ruabon dated to the 17th century . The maps showed how important or how insignificant Wrexham was considered and how it was represented on maps . We stopped by a 20th century map of North Wales centred on the brewing industry of the town . Oddly Wrexham sat in the middle with the brewer pushing his barrels along the street . I found myself comparing it with medieval maps where Jerusalem was the centre of the known world . Wrexham was the centre of the brewing world . Further cases showcased old Wrexham scarves , a red velvet moth eaten international cap and Rocking Robin . The old club mascot . Replaced when the team changed their name from the Robins to the Red Dragons - now we have Rex the Dragon who wanders around the touchline before the match starts talking to the kids and entertaining the crowds. I think I prefer Rex to Rocking Robin .

We did not stay long . It is claustrophobic in the windowless spaces and the heat was oppressive . Perhaps this time next year the court rooms upstairs will be opened up and the museum moved to a much brighter and open space . Perhaps more of the history hidden away will be dug out and displayed .

We walked back to the football ground . We hoped to see Morag the dragon bought by the club for display in the new Kop . She is still in the auctioneers yard . 3pm arrived . Yma o Hyd and the Declan Swans song about the ground had been played . Mani on the drums was missing . Two young children were leading the team out . It was kick off time . Squeaky bum time as we were playing the ugliest , dirtiest team we had come across . Time wasters . The minutes ticking away as they fell to the ground feigning injury . The goal keeper taking more than 14 seconds to kick the ball back into play . The crowd counting how many seconds he wasted 16, 20 and up to 24. The referee was chastised as he refused to issue what should have been yellow cards for play acting and time wasting . A frustrating first half when we went 1 - 0 down . The second half improved . A new player came on and danced around the opposition . He will be nicknamed Super Sub as he slotted in two goals quite easily . We won in the end 2 - 1 . It was not a pretty game . Hometime and back to sorting out the tiny details we have forgotten about .

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